


A Galaxy Apart

by AidansQueen



Series: The Valiant Series [3]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Missy is one very scary lady, River Song is not amused, Rose has no business navigating, Rose is not good at being a Tardis, The Doctor is confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-07-27
Packaged: 2018-12-05 15:23:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11580813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AidansQueen/pseuds/AidansQueen
Summary: When the Master goes missing, It will test the heart of Rose Tyler, and how far she is willing to go to save him.





	1. Not A Tardis Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

Rain comes down in sheets across London, Rose Tyler sits in a wide-open window sill, watching it beat against the window pane. He’s been gone for two weeks, but that’s not unusual. They wander off, it’s what they do. He does usually give notice before disappearing at random—but she figures he’ll turn up eventually.

She goes about her business, work, home, work, home….it goes on and on. So, she finds her way back to the manor house they bought together, sets about cleaning it up. She plants a garden in the back, smiles at her work. When he returns, she’ll have him help her install a gazebo. The Master isn’t exactly built for domestic life, and he’ll surely pitch a fit but do it anyways.

She returns to her Mum’s house in Cardiff.

She walks the garden, stares at the place where the Tardis once sat and glowers at it. He’s been gone a month, but he’s been gone longer she supposes. She wonders what he’s off doing, whether it’s murdering the Valeyard or just wandering about in space somewhere.

“It’s been a month Rose,” Jackie Tyler says from behind her, standing with her arms crossed over her chest from her place on the porch, “come inside and have some lunch.”

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

She eats, but food is tasteless as of late. It’s a mechanical act, like routine. Jackie Tyler watches her nervously, her daughter shifts food around her plate idly. “Rose,” she begins slowly, “when your Dad died...”:

“Don’t,” Rose almost laughs, it’s almost bitter. “Mum, you did this speech already when the Valeyard left.”

“The Doctor…” Jackie frowns at her.

“The Valeyard,” she glowers at her Mum, “He’s the _Valeyard_ …not the Doctor…nothing like him….and the Master is coming back, he always does.”

 

                                         

* * *

 

A year…

That wanker has been gone for _a year_.

She paces the garden, kicks the old dead grass where the Tardis sat angrily. She glowers up at the sky, willing him to return. She kicks and kicks, angry and frustrated and ready to yell at him. Then something bizarre happens, something that sends fear racing through her veins. It’s as if it happens in slow motion, she watches it fall, the gleam of silver catching in the sunlight as it falls to the ground with a soft dull thud.

Her ring.

Her ring just fell off.

“No…” she whispers because she knows what that means, she _knows_ what it means…

The Master wasn’t coming back.

He’d made a fail-safe for the ring, if ever something were to happen to him. If he’d gone too far from her, if he was gone for too long or should he die, the ring would deactivate. She stares at the ring on the ground, then as she bends to pick it up, her heart shattering in her chest, something else catches her eye.

A gleam of gold in the grass.

She stares at it, and her heart begins racing. She stumbles towards it, unable to process what she sees. His screwdriver is lying in the grass forgotten, along with her black smartphone. There is a hastily scribbled note, two words, simple and straight forward.

_Find him._

 

                                         

* * *

 

“Well what’s it _mean_ Rose?” Jackie is following her daughter through the house as Rose scrambles to get a bag of clothes together.

“It means he’s not gone off wandering,” Rose explains, frantic to leave. “I’ve been sitting around here for a year waiting for him to come back, and somebody’s got him hostage.”

“But the Tardis is gone,” Jackie argues.

“Then _somebody_ took the Tardis too,” Rose snaps irritably—when did humans become so annoying…why can’t they see the things she does, why don’t they think as quickly as she does?

She’s been alone with the Master for too long. She takes a deep breath, reminds herself she is also human even if she hasn’t spent much time with them in centuries, and smiles at her Mum. “Thank you…yes…I know the Tardis is gone…somebody must have taken it as well…probably to throw me off.”

Her Mum glowers at her, disproval in her features. Rose was different, too serious…there was a coldness in her eyes that her Mum didn’t remember being there before. The longer she watched her, the more Jackie began to put the pieces together. “How long?” Jackie demands in quiet seriousness, staring at her daughter.

“What?” Rose frowns at her.

“How _long_ have you been gone?” Jackie demands.

“Like…a month or two…we told you,” Rose waves her off.

“Your _lying_ , I know you are. I can see it in your eyes Rose…you’ve changed….so tell me _how long_.”

“Four centuries,” Rose blinks at her, watches the horror crossing her face, then the silent acceptance as she nods.

“That explains it,” Jackie tells her, grappling with the idea that her daughter was older even then her. “And the Master…what is he to you? You never cared so much about him.”

“I love him,” Rose tells her seriously, watching the micro expressions flicker across her Mum’s face. “if I had to describe him…he’s my friend…my dearest friend and he’s missing.”

Jackie stares and stares, before blinking and turning away silently, heading down to the kitchen.

Rose just watches her go.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

 

Jackie Tyler won’t speak to her, and Rose figures it’s better to let her process while she sorts out how to find the Master. The note he left taped to her phone clearly meant that she must find the Doctor. If the Master was willing to send her to _him_ , then something was seriously wrong.

Like hell she was just going to go running to the Doctor—she could fix this herself.

She pockets the screwdriver, she’d probably need it at some point. She knows where she’s going, which is the universe prime. Only because she doesn’t want to believe he’s dead, and logic tells her that if he’s not dead, then he’s not in this universe. When she reached the other universe, she’d be able to track him via the signal from his own ring.

Unless that ring fell off too because they were in separate universes.

But logic told her that when she entered the other universe, his ring would activate again. She’d keep her own in her pocket because she knew she’d need Bad Wolf to find him. She could handle this, she knew she could.

“Your Mum called,” Tosh’s voice echoes from behind her, “she said you needed me.”

“I never said--…” Rose trails off, staring at Tosh.

Did she need Tosh?

Did she need a companion?

“Yeah,” Rose amends her previous statement and smiles reassuringly, “I’m going to the Universe Prime…you in?”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

“Mum…I’m leaving now,” Rose tells her softly, watching her Mother from the patio doors. “I’m going to the universe prime…I’ll be back when I find him.”

“Fine,” Jackie says flatly without meeting her gaze.

“I know your angry…” Rose trails off at seeing the thunderous look on her face.

“After what the Doctor did to you…after the way the _Valeyard_ broke your heart, you’d run right to yet _another_ Time Lord? Rose how _thick_ are you?”

“Third times the charm?” Rose quirks a brow but sees that sarcasm and humor would do her no good right now. She sighs, runs a hand through her hair before meeting her Mum’s gaze, “I love him…I’m going to find him and bring him home.”

Jackie relents, seeing the sorrow in her daughters gaze but replies evenly, sharpness in her tone, “When you do…we’re going to have a very long discussion about all this…and I want to talk to him.”

“Ok,” Rose smiles wanly, hugs her Mother before heading out onto the patio, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“You’d better be Rose Marion Tyler,” Jackie says firmly.

She watches Rose and Tosh step out in the garden, hand in hand.

“You sure about this?” Tosh asks nervously, “you can do this?”

“Sure,” Rose replies though completely uncertain. She closes her eyes, wills Bad Wolf forward and before them a time tunnel opens.

“Where’s that go then?” Tosh asks worriedly.

“Somewhere…” Rose trails off.

“You don’t know?” Tosh asks.

“Not a clue,” Rose tells her as they both step forward and disappear into the tunnel.

 

 

 

 

 


	2. Not A Tardis Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

They are dumped unceremoniously into a water fountain.

“Oh, that’s just _lovely_ ,” Tosh says sourly, stepping out of the fountain and onto the pavement, soaked. Rose does the same, both tearing off coats and shoes to wring out the water.

“I tried,” Rose shrugs, “I’m not a _Tardis_.”

“Where are we?” Tosh asks, looking around. It was raining on top of everything else, late at night. Rose and Tosh walk for a few blocks, trying to get a feel for where they were but nothing really came to mind until they stopped along the wharf, staring out across the water at something in particular.

The statue of Liberty.

“New York…” Rose blinks, “we’re in _New York_?”

 

                                                         

* * *

 

“Not even _close_ to London,” Tosh says over a cup of coffee, the two huddled beneath an awning just outside a café. They can hear music inside, people laughing as they dance.

“Shut it,” Rose glowers at her, flipping through a paper she found left on one of the tables nearby.  “Were in the nineteen-forties,” Rose tells her, staring at the date. “Ok…. this is good…. universe prime…nineteen-forties New York…” she taps her chin thoughtfully, and then brightens at an idea, “Let’s go see Amy and Rory!”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

They walk side by side across the wet pavement, listening to the sound of cars and sirens, music echoing from open windows. “Do you know where they live?” Tosh asks as they walk.

“Sort of,” Rose says tentatively, “Amy once told me they lived near Central Park.”

“So, what,” Tosh frowns skeptically, “are we going to knock on every door until we find them?”

“Pretty much,” Rose nods.

The first house they approach, nobody answers. The second and third are received with angry words and dirty looks. The fourth and fifth right up until the tenth are all rude comments, irritated looks and doors slamming in their faces.

Until Rose spots one door, a door she knew had to belong to the Williams.

“That one,” Rose says, pointing to the far end of the block, a Tardis blue door shining in the street light. “I bet you fifty quid, she lives there.”

“Not taking that bet,” Tosh sniffs as they walk, “I know you’ll win…who else has a door like that?”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

They knock and wait, listen to the sound of somebody stumbling down the stairs before the door opens and a disheveled Rory Williams stares at them groggily. “Can I help you?”

“Sorry…I know this is late…” Rose begins but Tosh cuts her off.

“Don’t you remember us?” Tosh quirks a brow.

“No…” Rory looks hesitant, “am I supposed to?” He pauses for a minute, then says, “Um….do you know the Doctor?”

“ _Yes_ ,” they nod together.

“Come on in,” Rory sighs and rubs his eyes, stepping aside to let them in.

Amy comes down stairs as they are settling in the kitchen, Rory making a pot of tea in the background. “Who’s this?”

“Friends of the Doctor,” Rory says by way of explanation, “apparently we know them but haven’t met yet.”

“Well you know us _now_ ,” Rose smiles helpfully.

“How’d you get here?” Amy asks curiously, “Doctor told us that it wasn’t possible—do you have a vortex manipulator or something?”

“Or something…” Rose nods agreeably, accepting the cup of tea from Rory as he passes them around. “I need your help….” Rose sighs wearily, “I need to find my friend…which means I need to figure out where he is…”

“Got a way to find this friend?” Amy asks, sitting down across from Rose.

“His ring,” Rose nods, “I just need…” Rose pulls the screwdriver from her pocket and fiddles with the switches, then frowns, “No…the signal’s not activating yet.”

“Maybe he lost it,” Rory suggests.

“It’s a possibility,” Rose nods with a worried frown, “alright…”

“The Doctor might help,” Amy offers.

“No,” Rose frowns at the table, “I’d really rather avoid that if I can…I can handle this.”

“But he told you to--…” Tosh trails off at the sour look Rose turns on her.

“So…your avoiding the Doctor?” Amy quirks a brow, “How come?”

“Complicated history,” Rose replies quietly, “I’d rather just avoid him if I can.”

“We could call River,” Rory suggest to Amy, “she might be able to help them.”

“That’d be great,” Tosh says brightly.

Oh lovely.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

“It’d be fun,” Amy grins at Rory.

“No,” he shakes his head, “absolutely not.”

“Rose he’s right,” Tosh says quietly, “we can’t bring them…Rose look at them, they’ve got a house…they’re trying to adopt…”

“Oh, don’t be _boring_ Tosh,” Rose waves her off, “It’ll be fun.”

They’d come to the conclusion after several attempts to contact River that it would be easier for Rose to go to her instead. River, wherever she was, wasn’t answering the phone. Rose suggested Amy and Rory come with them, promised to bring them home afterwards. Rory wasn’t keen on the idea but Amy was excited.

“Do you think…” Asks hesitantly, “maybe we could see the Doctor? You don’t have to see him…just…put us somewhere we can pop by and say hello?”

“I guess,” Rose replies tentatively.

Amy beams in response, Rory looks nervous and Tosh looks apprehensive. She thinks this is a bad idea, bringing them along. Rose thinks it’s grand and tells her so. Then she opens another time tunnel and their off.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

“You _said_ follow her timeline,” Rose says tentatively, Amy glowering at her from the background.

“Think she’s a bit young right now,” Amy says, nodding to the infant in the basinet.

“Probably,” Rose nods and opens another tunnel, “Let’s try this again shall we?”

They try again…and again…and again…and eventually they stop off at some intergalactic restaurant to eat. Rose stares idly out the window into the darkness of space, her eyes on the glittering stars around them. “I’m sorry…I’m not a Tardis…I’ve got very little experience using Bad Wolf to travel in time.”

“Well,” Amy says with a sigh, finishing her desert, “I’m sure we’ll get it right eventually.”

“I can hear your timeline,” Rose says after a beat, “since the ring came off…. I can hear them all now…and it’s so loud….” She frowns worriedly, “Amy…. your timeline…”

“I know,” she tells Rose, “it was all messed up but the Doctor fixed it.”

Rose nods, “It makes no sense…your timeline’s all jumbled up,” she frowns, her gaze off to the right and down, her eyes glittering gold as she looks at it, “I realize I probably shouldn’t be looking at your timeline…but it’s so….”

“There was a crack in my wall,” Amy says by way of explanation, “a crack in time…a fissure…something in the future created it.”

Rose frowns as she looks at Amy worriedly, “I…I can’t see the heart of it…I should be able to see where it began but I can’t trace it.”

“Probably better if you didn’t,” Rory says quietly, watching Rose wearily.

“Yeah,” Rose agrees and sets the matter aside, paying the bill before they all got up and left.

Time to try again.

                                                       

* * *

 

“Rose so help me if we land in another _bathtub_ …” Rory trails off threateningly.

“Certainly, gave that bloke a scare, didn’t it?” Rose laughs, recalling the incident where they popped out of a time tunnel right into a man’s shower…while he was still in the bathroom, just outside the curtain and about to get in.

“How old are you?” Amy asks curiously, “are you a time lord too?”

“Nope,” Rose tells her, “I’m Bad Wolf….and I’m human or I was,” she says thoughtfully, “I’m four hundred and two.”

“Blimey,” Amy says cheekily, “remind me to find out what moisturizer you use.”

Rose laughs as she opens another tunnel, and they all jump in.

This time, they land on a planet full of books---and leave very quickly. The next time they land, it’s in Utah, and then finally with one more jump they land on some kind of outer space university.

“She works here,” Amy says brightly, “she teaches here.”

They go inside, find their way to her room and watch her from the background. River Song is prettier then she expected, such a bright warm face, golden curls, she practically glows. Rose knows she could never be that, and wonders why she’s comparing herself to River at all. When the woman with the massive hair notices the group at the back of her classroom, she stumbles over her words during her lecture.

“I think that’ll be all for today,” she announces suddenly, “Class dismissed.”

Amy smiles, arms outstretched as she hugs River. “Hi.”

“Amy,” she looks concerned, her gaze shifting between them all, “how did you get here? Who’s this?”

“Rose,” she supplies easily, “this is my friend Tosh.”

“Rose…” the smile drops off River’s face, “Rose Tyler?”

“Yes,” Rose blinks—she knows her name?

“How are you here…aren’t you supposed to be in another universe?” River asks, concerned.

“Long story and I can’t tell you most of it…” Rose explains easily, “but we need your help.”

“Ah,” River smiles, “ _spoilers_ \---I do love a good adventure, what’s up?”

                                         

* * *

 

“You do realize who the Master _is_ , don’t you?” River asks skeptically.

“Yes…” Rose begins slowly, “He’s…my friend, and someone’s taken him.”

“Your _friend_?” River quirks a brow, “the Master doesn’t have friends—well, when I say he doesn’t have friends I mean he doesn’t have any _other_ friends aside from the Doctor that is.”

“He’s my friend,” Rose says flatly, annoyed before she continues, “I need to find him….”

“Sometimes,” River begins slowly, “sometimes they just go off on their own. The Doctor does it all the time…” River shrugs, “maybe he’s just gone off wandering?”

“No,” Rose replies evenly, “he’s not gone off _wandering_. He left his screwdriver and my phone…he left a note telling me to _find him_. I’m assuming that means find _the Doctor_ because it’d be awfully ridiculous to leave a note wanting me to find him instead.”

“Well,” River says thoughtfully, “that changes things—when did you see him last?”

“He went out to the Tardis to lock it down…then he’d be in for dinner and yet when I went out to get him because he’d been gone a while, he and the Tardis were both gone.”

“The Tardis was gone?” River turns pale, “someone took your Tardis?”

“Yes,” Rose eyes her carefully, “I know what your thinking—I thought the same thing—only someone with experience at the helm of a Tardis could take it.”

“Exactly,” River says, “which narrows it down considerably as there are only a few people in the universe who could fly it. The Doctor, myself…The Master…the Valeyard…”

“Exactly,” Rose nods. “It isn’t the Valeyard however…he’s…shall we say, out of commission for the time being.”

“What about other time lords?” Tosh suggests, “Isn’t it possible?”

“Not likely,” Amy says, “I thought they were all dead?”

“Um…” Rose trails off, her and River exchanging looks before she says, “Amy…I think you’re a bit behind…Gallifrey is back.”

“Really?” Amy blinks, “How?”

“He misplaced it,” Rose sighs heavily, rubbing her face wearily, “the Doctor misplaced an entire planet.”

“Yeah that sounds like him,” Amy says dryly.

“Why don’t we just go and talk to him?” River suggests casually, “see what he thinks?”

“I’d rather not,” Rose tells her quietly, “It’d be too complicated to explain.”

“You’ve absolutely no _idea_ the level of complicated it would be,” Tosh adds.

“No,” River says firmly after a beat, “No…we need to find the Doctor, he’s the only one who can help us with this,” River says, meeting Rose’s gaze, “this is _serious_ …if someone stole your Tardis…” River shakes her head, worried.

“Oh _fine_ ,” Rose scowls, glowering at the table.

“ _Yes_!” Amy grins.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

  
“So…” River watches her tentatively, “seriously… _you_ can travel through time…just you, all on your own?”

“Yes,” Rose tells her stiffly, “You’ve got a manipulator…don’t make me carry everyone.”

“Of course,” River says indignantly, “I wasn’t planning to--…”

“I can _see_ that,” Rose says sharply and stalks away.

Tosh watches her go, smiles at River apologetically and hurries after her. “Rose!” Tosh calls, catching up to her friend, “Rose…why are you acting like this?”

“She thinks she’s so _grand_ doesn’t she,” Rose growls irritably, “ _Oh_ look at me I’m River with my super magical _hair_ …”

“Rose,” Tosh frowns, “your being ridiculous. Rivers only trying to help…we came to _her_ remember?”

“I know,” Rose sighs, closes her eyes. She misses the Master, and every moment she breaths she thinks that he’s somewhere in peril and she’s been sitting around for a year not doing anything to help him. She wasn’t _jealous_ of River—ok so maybe she was. She needed to stop, she knew that. She was being jealous and ridiculous and childish; her behavior wasn’t going to help the Master.

“I’m sorry,” Rose says, her voice echoing across the hall loud enough for River to hear, “I’m being an ass….lets go find the Doctor.”

River nods but doesn’t reply, her gaze on Rose’s back thoughtfully. “Lets.”


	3. Into the Forest Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

They begin the journey simple enough, River using every trick in the book to track down her husband while the others tagged along. Soon enough, River realized _she_ couldn’t find her husband either.

“Don’t tell me they’ve run off together,” Rose says dryly as she meets River’s gaze, “because I know for a fact….” Rose makes a face, “Oh he probably _would_.”

“It’d be _hot_ ,” River nods in agreeance.

“So _very_ hot,” Rose nods, looking a little wistful and then blinks, “Ok so if you can’t find the Doctor and I can’t find the Master…we track one of his companions instead—I can do that.”

“You can track timelines too?” River looks surprised, “what else can you do?”

“Lots of things,” Rose shrugs, looking suddenly solemn. “I know better,” she says after a beat, “I can behave.”

“That kind of power shouldn’t be taken lightly,” River frowns at her, “nobody should have it that kind of power.”

“Yes, well I do,” Rose says quickly, rubbing her hands together before glancing back at her, “ _jealous_ much?”

River scoffs, “Hardly.”

“Now children,” Amy remarks from the background.

“Let me see,” River says, pulling her blue journal from her bag, flipping through the pages, “It looks like he’s with Clara right now…if were looking for the man with the Scottish accent and the gray roots.”

“That’s him,” Rose nods, “Clara…”

“Here,” River says motioning to the book in her hands, “Let me show you a picture of her if that helps.”

It did help….and Rose knew then who she was looking for as she gazed upon the face of her dearest friend, “ _Clara_ …”

Her name echoed down the vortex, ringing in her head, her voice calling across the distance as she closed her eyes and sought out that tiny thread of gold light linking to the very heart of Clara Oswald. How could Clara be here too? Unless this Clara was an alternate version of _her_ Clara. She hears it, Clara’s voice and her face, her smile, the shade of her chestnut hair, her laughter, she follows Clara through her life, flashing images and faces whirling past in a storm of days gone by. “Found her,” Rose says after a beat, “I don’t know where this place is…” she waves her hand and a time tunnel appears, Rose’s eyes snapping open with the action. “She’s through _there_.”

River looks visibly paler, seeing Rose open the time tunnel. This was something that went against the laws of time, Rose shouldn’t exist and yet she does. “So, it’s _true_...” she breaths in quiet horror and disbelief, “ _Bad Wolf_ …. it’s not just a fairytale.”

“I’m _not_ a villain,” Rose quickly snaps, frowning at the way River talks of Bad Wolf, “I’m not evil…I’m not trying to destroy the universe, I’m trying to find my _friend_.”

“Of course,” River blinks away her sudden revelry with a soft nod, “Let’s go then.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

Truth be told, Rory Williams didn’t like this one bit.

He followed his daughter, his wife and the two odd but friendly companions through a maze of swamp lands towards a tiny village out in the middle of nowhere….and how a diner that looked as though it’d been uprooted right out of the fifties and dropped here.

“Um…” Rory bites his lip and points, properly puzzled. “ _What_?”

“Well there’s something you don’t see every day,” Rose muses aloud.

“Isn’t that the same diner…” Amy frowns.

“Yep,” River confirms, “Same one…or a replica at the very least.”

“It’s a _Tardis_ ,” Rose says, sliding her hands along the rough hull of the diner, “beautiful.”

“Another Tardis,” River says, “remarkable…probably nicked right off Gallifrey.”

“Newer model?” Rose glances at River for confirmation, “definitely not a type 40.”

“Yes,” River nods, “not sure which model though.”

“So, where’s Clara?” Amy asks.

“Good question,” River replies, “doesn’t seem to be anyone around, does it?”

“Not even in the village,” Rory calls from nearby, peering into the doorway of an empty house.

“Ok,” Rose says, “so…everybody is just conveniently out.”

“You and I both know it’s never that easy,” River tells Rose dryly.

“But it _could_ be…” Rose trails off, hopeful.

“Give it up,” River tells here pointedly and turns towards Rory, “any sign of struggle?”

“Just _once_ …” Rose mutters with a sigh.

“No,” Rory answers with a frown, “but it looks like--…” he gives a cry, stumbling backwards away from the old house. “Sorry! I wasn’t trying to intrude!”

“What are you doing out here!” says a young woman, peering out at them from within the house, “get in here!” she hisses angrily, “before your taken too!”

“Who’s going to take us?” River asks.

“The Forest!” she hisses, “the forest will take you, now _get in here_!”

                                                         

                                                                       

* * *

 

They are ushered into the old house with great hast. Beneath an old rug is a trap door where they are led down under the house, a small group of people huddled around small fires peers up at them as they enter.

“ _More_ strangers?” hisses the eldest at the back, “we can’t take no more strangers, hardly enough food as is!”

“Well I couldn’t hardly leave them to those _things_ out there!” the young woman argues back.

“Other strangers?” Rose chimes in, “there were others before us?”

“Yeah,” says the eldest, “two women…strange women, dark hair, ask lots of questions. They went into forest and never came back.”

“We can help,” River offers, “tell us about the forest.”

The young woman glances between the strangers and the eldest before saying, “I’m Ursa…this is eldest…we call him that because he is leader of our people.”

“Professor River Song,” River nods with a polite smile, “this is Rose, Amy and Rory. Those people who went into your forest—the strangers—we’ve been looking for them…can you tell us about the forest?”

“They steal our people by night…forest ghosts…once we lived in peace with them and then one day they turned on us…” the eldest begins wearily, “your friends asked same questions…went into find forest ghosts and never returned.”

“Forest ghosts,” River frowns, “I see.” She glances at the others before saying, “I think we ought to look into it, it sounds as though Clara’s gone into that forest with someone.”

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

In the sunlight the forest hums with life, thick green foliage hangs down overhead, stretching shadows across the landscape. They walk tentatively, on silent feet as they listen for the sounds of others. The villagers claimed these creatures were forest ghosts, guardians of the trees.

“Fairies?” Rose whispers softly, “ _seriously_?”

“It’s not unheard of,” River says quietly, “there are stories all across human history about them, from the dark ages all the way up to modern times—and some depictions of fairy like beings back in Neolithic era.”

“We’re not on Earth,” Rose counters.

“Still,” River suggests, “perhaps this is where they came from, or even perhaps they lived here once as they lived on Earth.”

“Alright,” Rose begins, “so, _where are they_?”

“Maybe they’re out,” Amy murmurs softly.

“I doubt that,” Rory says quietly, “when have we _ever_ been that lucky?”

“These trees,” Tosh’s voice says softly, “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Oh, by the way,” Rose murmurs to River, “If you need a super genius we’ve got Tosh.”

“Don’t let the Doctor here you say that,” River muses, “he might challenge her to a duel—What have you found Tosh?”

“The roots of this tree,” she frowns, “they’ve turned black---all the rest of the tree is green but the roots look… _poisoned_.”

“They said they didn’t have much food,” Amy says thoughtfully, “the roots are sick…” she frowns, “what changed…before, they lived in peace with the ghost-things whatever they are, and then suddenly they turned on the villagers— _why_?”

“Good question,” River replies.

“Pollution,” Rose suggests, “like on Earth…we take the planet for granted and pollute the air, eat all the food…how many different species are endangered because of human greed?” Rose frowns thoughtfully.

“Getting warmer,” River tells her.

“Look,” Rory says suddenly, pointing ahead of them, “It’s a camp.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

It was a camp indeed.

They find a tiny fire long since put out, and two backpacks. Rose rummages through them, finds a bit of food and two torches.

“Right,” Rose says, “this has got to belong to Clara and whoever she’s running around out here with.”

“Can we stop for a bit?” Rory says, panting, “that hike was awful.”

“We’ve been walking for _twenty_ minutes,” Rose makes a face.

“Yeah well, it’s been a while since I’ve done this,” Rory counters, dropping down onto an old worn looking log.

“Does anybody else hear that noise?” Rose frowns, straining to listen….it sounded like humming, or rather a funny sort of buzzing that was getting steadily louder the closer it got.

“Sounds like bees,” Amy says nervously.

“ _Big_ bees,” Rory adds.

Behind them the noise grows to a steady drumming, to the thrum of wind as the trees rattle their leaves and whistles between the branches overhead. Then silence falls, and the forest is so quiet Rose could practically hear her own heartbeat.

Then…

They burst from the branches overhead like a torrent of lethal rain, tiny creatures who screech like wild animals, tiny wings beating furiously as they accost the intruders below them.

“ _And_ run!” Rose shouts, the group scattering in every direction.

Rose throws herself into the forest, Tosh right behind her. She supposed it was instinct, they were a team and had worked together for so long that it was a knee jerk reaction to follow each other. “You never said _anything_ about being chased by _giant_ bees!” Tosh shouts as they run, “I’m allergic to bees!”

“They’re not _bees_!” Rose shouts back, “I think their pixies!”

“They’re hundreds of them!” Tosh shouts nervously, stumbling and twisting as she rips through the surrounding branches, repeatedly untangling clothes and hair from anything that snagged on her.

Rose does the same, stumbling to her knees occasionally when the ground moves and quakes and the landscape drops away, both tumbling headlong down a steep hill through brush and debris. They descend upon Rose and Tosh like a violent swarm of angry hornets, and the two women struggle to beat them away. Tosh starts screaming and Rose throws caution to the wind, slinging her hands left and right, rendering the tiny vicious creatures to dust as she makes her way towards Tosh.

“I’ll burn you all!” she screams, “Put her down _right now_!”

They don’t heed the warning, instead carrying Tosh off away into the sky, the rest scattering in the wake of fear and the destruction of the others. The forest goes silent and Rose stands there, breathing heavily, blood oozing down her cheek from the scratches on her face. They are steadily healing as Bad Wolf tends to do, and before long they are nothing but tiny pink marks lining her face.

“Fuck!” she shouts angrily, her voice carrying through the woods.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

Rory isn’t even sure where he is.

One minute he’s resting at the campsite and the next he’s running through the woods, his wife right in front of him…and then she wasn’t. He could have sworn his wife had just gotten _eaten_ by a tree. He stood there screaming at the tree for a half hour, dragging his hands across the bark, beating at it furiously with anything heavy he could find but to no avail. His voice was hoarse from screaming Amy’s name.

They should have never come here…this was a stupid idea.

He should have slammed the door in that mad blonde woman’s face the moment she said _Doctor_. They wouldn’t be here right now if he’d just done the smart thing and ignored her. Amy could have yelled at him for days over it but at least she wouldn’t have been eaten by a damn _tree_.

“Give her back!” he shouts angrily, “I swear if you hurt her...” he threatens dangerously, “Nothing…I mean _nothing_ will stop me from burning this forest to the ground!”

“Your starting to sound like the Doctor,” River’s voice says weakly as she appears in the distance, limping, “nasty things, weren’t they? I managed to take a few out along the way though.”

“River,” Rory says frantically, “River they took Amy!”

“It’s fine Rory,” River reassures him, “she’s not dead…not likely at least.”

“How do you know?” he demands.

“I don’t,” she sighs, “I _hope_.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

Rose limps wearily through the forest, her gaze on the ever-darkening sky. It was nearly nightfall, and to be alone in this forest at night was probably a very bad idea. “Bring her back you _miserable_ fucks!” Rose growls angrily, “I’m going to---oh who the hell am I kidding,” Rose sighs aloud, “I’m exhausted….” She pauses for a beat and then, “and talking to myself.”

She wished the Master were here.

She drops down onto the forest floor, and sprawls out on her back, arms outstretched as she gazes up at the sky. She was so tired she didn’t care anymore, using Bad Wolf had consequences, one of which was exhaustion. She couldn’t imagine what it’d be like to use it at full power for longer than a few minutes. She closes her eyes, listens to the sound of her breathing and the steady drumming of her heart.

Then she dreams, and she’s dreaming of Gallifrey so far from here, of a little boy with dark hair running through a field of fire with another boy around his own age. They laugh and chase each other, a wide expanse of open land before them. Behind them looms a manor house like Rose has never seen save only in the Master’s memory, and she knew this house belonged to his Father. The funny thing about this dream Rose knew, was that she couldn’t see Gallifreyan timelines, they were shielded somehow from her sight. So, who’s timeline was she seeing, who was watching them? Perhaps this was some kind of premonition, or maybe she could see the past and the future?

She is being lifted…by what she isn’t sure, but something is carrying her away through the forest, and when she opens her eyes, she sees his face, and her fingers reach up and run along his jaw lovingly, burning the sight of him into her memory forever. “Missed you…”

He doesn’t respond, and she blinks and frowns, the shape of him was wavering back and forth like the ripple of water in a pond that once sat pristine until disturbed. The illusion fades, and his skin is green, flaked with leaves, wide set eyes burn gold. Rose starts to protest but he makes a sound like the soft rustling of leaves across the ground and she drifts off back to sleep.

 

                                                                       

* * *

 

 

Tosh awakes with a start.

She is bound with vines, twisted up in the roots of an old tree like a sturdy organic cage. Across from her is a young woman with dark hair, watching her thoughtfully, “I wondered when you would wake.”

“Where am I?” Tosh asks groggily.

“Underground,” the woman says, “I haven’t the faintest clue _exactly_ where.”

“Who are you?” Tosh tries again.

“I’m Me,” she tells her with a tilt of her head, “and you?”

“I’m not telling you my name until you tell me yours,” Tosh says, “I asked first.”

“I told you my name…” Me says, “My name _is_ Me.”

“Why would you name yourself Me?” Tosh blinks at her.

“Because I have a hard time recalling my name,” Me shrugs, “among many things—now—what’s your name?”

“Tosh,” she says slowly, “how’d we get down here?”

“Pixies,” Me says, “there like the sentinels of the forest you could say.”

“Do you know why their attacking?” Tosh asks, “the villagers said they’d lived in peace for so long and then one day they just turned on them.”

“The villagers killed a stag,” Me says, “and not just any stag...they shot down their leader.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

“Ow…” Rose moans allowed as she wakes, “Ow…ow…owwww…” she sits up gingerly, stiff and uncomfortable. “My _head_ …”

“The life bringer awakes,” says a voice and Rose blinks into the gloom at the bizarre creature in the corner.

“Not exactly a life bringer mate,” Rose sniffs as she looks around her, “really sort of a klutz if I’m honest.”

“You will restore us,” he says slowly, “as you destroy…so you can restore.”

“Look,” Rose says firmly, “your creepy little minions attacked me _first_ \--…” she trails off, staring up at the odd-looking sacks hanging from the ceiling. Villagers and others, clearly the missing people taken from the village. One of them was familiar, she looked asleep, wrapped in spider silk threads. “Clara!”


	4. Into the Forest Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

“Clara!” Rose shouts, gazing up at the ceiling and then at the creature in the corner, “Bring her down.”

“You take from us,” it begins, “we take from you, it is only fair.”

“I never took anything from you,” Rose counters, “let my friend go.”

“Death must be repaid with life, life with death…you kill our kind and we shall take the life of yours.”

“So, the villagers killed your kind and you took some of their people to replace what was lost?” Rose frowns thoughtfully. “Clara _isn’t_ a villager…she was trying to help, as am I. Just tell me what happened…how can we fix this?”

“No _we_ , but _you_. You will fix this…you wield the power of life and death,” the being reasons aloud.

“Right,” Rose says, taking a deep breath and expelling it slowly, “so if I fix whatever the villagers broke…you’ll leave them alone?” Rose asks, quirking a brow.

“Yes,” he tells her firmly.

“Alright,” Rose says, “I’ll do it…but you let my friend go _first_.”

“Agreed,” it says with a snap of his fingers, the sack containing Clara glides to the ground and the woman inside it crumbles to the dirt floor silently. Rose drops to her knees, ripping away the spider silk to reach the woman inside the cocoon. “Clara,” Rose says earnestly, “Clara wake up!”

“She is not dead but is dead,” the being says, “death and life in one being…as we thought she would be the one to restore us but she has not the power as we first believed.”

“How is she…” Rose stops, her fingers gliding along Clara’s wrist as she unravels the cocoon, “she hasn’t a heartbeat.”

“No,” he says, “no heartbeat but she breaths, no life in her but she _lives_.”

“ _Creepy_ ,” Rose muses aloud, watching as Clara suddenly jerks awake, coughing and sputtering. Her eyes blink open and she looks up at Rose curiously.

“Who are you?” Clara says groggily, shoving away the cocoon from her body as she fights to be free of it.

“Rose,” she begins softly, “Rose Tyler…I’m here to get you out of here….and help the villagers if I can…we’ve been looking for you—where’s your friend? I’m assuming you came here with someone.”

“Me,” Clara says as she sits up, “I came here with Me.”

“Right…” Rose blinks at her.

“No,” Clara rolls her eyes as she stands, “her _name_ is Me.”

“Oh,” Rose nods, “Ok…lets go find…sorry do I have to call her _Me_?”

“Her name’s Ashildr but she prefers Me,” Clara supplies easily, “Is the Doctor here?”

“Nope,” Rose says with raised eyebrows, “boy your quick.”

“Yep,” Clara winks cheekily as she glances at the creature in the corner, “you stuck me in there when I was just trying to help.”

“Yeah and now he’s let you out,” Rose counters, “don’t push your luck.”

“Still,” Clara says, “ _rude_.” She turns in a circle, “Let’s find the others—you,” she says as she nods to the creature, “take me to my friend.”

“Bossy much,” Rose murmurs quietly, “he’s being cooperative because I said I’d restore them.”

“Are you _kidding_ me?” Clara slams to a halt, rounding on her, “are you completely mad or are you just that _stupid_? You don’t make deals with them! What did you say—exactly— _what did you say_?”

“I said I’d restore them if they let my friend go,” Rose tells her with a frown.

“ _Friend_ ,” Clara says pointedly, “you said friend…you did not say _friends_ —and I’m assuming you came here with someone else? What if they have your _other_ friends?”

“Shit,” Rose stares at her, “I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Course you didn’t,” Clara makes a face and turns to the creature in the corner, “she wasn’t aware of the rules…that isn’t fair.”

“We made a deal,” it replies, “you would go back on the deal?”

“ _No_ ,” Clara says quickly, aware of the consequences, “but she didn’t _know_.”

“Look…I have other friends, Tosh…River…Amy and Rory…are they here?” Rose asks curiously.

“We do not know names but I know we brought in one with hair like fire and another asking questions without end.”

“That’ll be Tosh and Amy,” Rose sighs, rubbing her face wearily, “the red head and the nosy one…where’d you put them?”

                                                       

* * *

 

 

“Oi!” Amy shouts angrily,” you let me go or you’ll be sorry!”

“ _That’s_ telling them,” Tosh says dryly from across the corridor, caught up in the same sort of organic cage.

“Hey!” Amy shouts, “hey you…tree boy,” she says to the one by the end of the corridor, “Come on then…tell us what’s going on…what do you want with us?”

“ _Tree boy_?” Tosh says with a raised eyebrow, “a bit rude don’t you think?”

“I just got _eaten_ by a tree,” Amy hisses irritably, “do you have _any_ idea how mental my husband’s probably going right now?”

“Still, not the best approach to the situation,” Tosh frowns at her and then looks at the guard, “Excuse me…can you tell us why we’re here? We’ve come to help...” she turns her gaze around the room before looking at the guard, “I’m Tosh and this is Amy…we were looking for our friends, two girls…dark hair…have you seen them?”

“They are subdued,” the guard says and then turns away.

Amy glances at Tosh, “any ideas how to get out of here?”

“Not really,” Tosh frowns thoughtfully.

“Let me handle this,” Amy says confidently.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

Rose and Clara are led down a long corridor, the corridors are silent and damp as they walk. It smells like earth and wind and rain down here, tree roots and growing living things twisting through the Earth above them hang freely over their heads. They reach a center hall, a large cylindrical room carved from the dirt itself, at the center a circular stone dais where lay a great white stag sprawled motionless.

“Their leader is a _deer_?” Rose asks dryly.

“Their leader can be many things,” Me says quietly, “a deer is just one form…they’re shapeshifters. He got shot while in the form of a stag.”

“Is he dead?” Rose frowns at the stag at the center of the room, “I’ve never tried to bring anyone back from the dead before…”

“You can manipulate time, right?” Me surmises, “I guessed as much by the way they spoke to you about life and death—it’s the only logical conclusion. If you can manipulate time then you can reverse his individual timeline, restore him back to the point before he died.”

“I did it once,” Rose trails off quietly, “with Jack Harkness…but I brought it back permanently—I don’t know how to make it temporary.”

“Try not to do that again yeah?” Me says, patting her reassuring on the back before urging her forward.   


“So, you want me…” Rose begins slowly, “to…bring him back?”

“The forest dies with him,” a voice says, echoing like the wind in the trees around the room, “restore him…restore the forest.”

“Right,” Rose heaves a sigh and kneels on the dais, gazing down at the stag. “Just…reverse the timeline… _easy_.”

She reaches out, grasping at the wind and the rain, at the forest around them, the smell of soil and fresh grass, the howl of the wind in the trees….his timeline was like everything and nothing, death and life and rebirth, and as she reached out to him, to his timeline, to the brilliant gold shimmering light she followed it back, her eyes burning gold.

Gold like his eyes were…gold like the eyes of the one who carried her down beneath the ground, deep beneath the Earth, her body shimmered with light and in the background, she can hear an angry scot shouting and Clara shouting back, but the sound is drowned out by the singing of the vortex. Oh the singing, the beautiful sound it was like peace…balance…glorious song. Rose lets go, all the tension and fear and worry and the drifting memories in her subconscious. If she could just let go of it all…what would it be like to exist in that perfect balance? Beneath her hands the stag moves, and staggers to its feet and the room erupts in voices, the singing gets louder and louder and then suddenly…

Darkness.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

 

“So, your grand idea was to hit her over the back of the head with a _branch_?” River snarls angrily.

“I’m sorry,” Clara snaps back, “did you not see what was happening? She wasn’t just restoring the stag she was starting to undo everything _else_ too!”

“So, you reason with her,” River says, “you don’t hit her with a tree branch!”

“Probably the best course,” Rory says quietly from the background, “I can’t imagine she’d have been _reasonable_ at the time.”

She sleeps.

She wakes hours later, and she’s lying beneath a canopy of blossoms and tree leaves, curled in the soft soil. She sleeps and sleeps, her body is so tired and she can hardly keep her eyes open. She hears voices and sounds pass her by, Amy tucking a blanket over her, River with a soft hand pressed to her forehead, the whirl of lights over her face and body—is she in the med-bay? Did they find the Doctor? She’s dreaming of so many lives and faces, soaring across whole worlds and civilizations—it’s amazing…she doesn’t want to leave, she doesn’t want to stop, she’s never felt anything like this in her whole life.

“Rose,” River’s voice sounds far away, like she’s got her head stuck under water and the voice is broken and disoriented. “Rose wake up…open your eyes Rose.”

“Where am I?” Rose murmurs half awake, blinks up into the bright lights of the med-bay, closes her eyes again and tries to go back to sleep.

“No,” River says, shaking her lightly, “don’t go back to sleep Rose…you need to stay awake…it’s trying to pull you back under again.”

“What’s…” Roses tongue feels thick and her body is heavy like lead. “Where…”

“Bad Wolf,” River tells her softly, “you’re caught up in the flow of the vortex—its like a river, and your caught in the current…you have to fight Rose, you have to open your eyes and get up.”

She wanted to stay in that current and drift through time, she knew if she did Rose Tyler would never come back, and she’d be something else, something new and different. She liked the feel of it, the peace she felt, the amazing wonder she saw…was this what it was like to be a Time Lord? To know and see it all, to watch centuries of lifetimes pass by in the blink of an eye, an endless story of memory and knowledge?

“Rose,” River says a little sharper and then suddenly…

 _Crack_.

“Ow!” Rose howls and sharply jerks awake, clinging to her cheek as she sits up, “Ow!” she says again, her other hand to her forehead.

Clara’s looking at River expectantly, an eyebrow quirked, “and I hit her with a tree branch.”

“Well,” River scoffs, “desperate times come with desperate measures…she wasn’t _listening_.”

“How…where am I?” Rose frowns, her head was aching and her cheek stung fiercely, “and who hit me?”

“We did,” Clara and River says simultaneously.

“ _Why_?” Rose sputters indignantly.

“To save you,” Clara shrugs and turns away, “I’m headed back to the console room.”

“Are we…on…” Rose trails off, listening to the hum of the Tardis around them, “did we find the Doctor—where is he?”

“We’re on Clara’s Tardis,” River explains, “we know where his Tardis is…we’re tracking it,” River explains.

“How long have I been out?” Rose frowns, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed.

“Two days,” River frowns at her, scanning her with a handheld medical device, “your stabilized now…what _happened_ Rose?”

“Using Bad Wolf is dangerous for me…” Rose says quietly, “if I use it for too long…use too much of it….it could kill me. Bad Wolf can only sustain me for so long before the damage becomes too great.”

“And you risked a great deal restoring the stag,” River surmises with a nod, “could have warned us.”

“I got distracted,” Rose shrugs idly, “I was done but…I kept going…there was so much…it was so beautiful,” Rose frowns softly, “I was…I forgot…myself.”

“Try not to do that again Rose,” River warns quietly.

“How’d we get out of there? Rose asks suddenly.

“We’ll,” River sighs, “Amy led a one-woman army through the halls with your friend Tosh in toe, and Rory and I found our way in through a nearby cave…and then fell through the ceiling and landed right in the middle of the battlefield…the stag woke up…and everybody stopped attacking us and calmed down…then we left.” She checked her watch, “I’m heading up to the console room, go shower and get something clean from the wardrobe room and meet us with us when you’re done.” River tells her and then turns and leaves.

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

“Problem,” Clara says as Rose enters the console a few hours later, fresh out of the shower with a clean pair of clothes. “I can’t go near the Doctor for…very good reasons.”

“That’s fine,” River tells her, “Drop us off and we’ll handle the rest.”

“How are you living?” Rose asks suddenly, the room falling silent as they gaze at Rose who’s watching Clara, “your timeline is frozen…I can see it…just _stopped_. _How_?”

“The Doctor froze my timeline with Gallifreyan technology,” Clara says quietly, “look…I don’t know what version of him is out there, I don’t know where we are. You can’t bring up Gallifrey because he might not know about it yet…he might not even know _me_ yet…just…be careful alright?”

“Agreed,” River says with a warm smile towards Clara and Me, “Thank you both for your help…safe travels.”

“You two,” Clara smiles faintly at River and the others as they gather in the room and head for the Tardis door.

“So outside that door,” Rose asks River quietly, “is the Doctor’s Tardis?”

“I hope,” River smiles wanly, “If we’re lucky.”

“and if we’re not?” Rory asks tentatively.

“Then…we run,” River smiles faintly and opens the door. They all file outside, blinking into the bright white lights around them. Polished steel walls, steel floors, long narrow corridors illuminated by round white lights fitted into the walls….

Oh no.

Rose knew exactly where they were.

“Cybermen?” Rose asks River nervously.

“Where else would be?” River heaves a sigh.


	5. Lets Be Villains Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

“Ladies first,” River motions to Rose, the group staring down the corridor wearily.

“Age before beauty,” Rose says cheekily in response.

“Oh _please_ ,” Amy scoffs and shoves between the two of them, stalking ahead. Rose and River watch her go and then hurry along behind her, Tosh and Rory following.

“It’s an outpost from the looks of it,” River says, stopping at a nearby terminal to examine the computer schematics, “unmanned…looks like were alone here but they’ll be picking up life signs from the main ship which is roughly two hundred clicks from here—we can’t stay here.”

 “Uh…guys,” Rory says suddenly, staring out a nearby porthole, “you might want to see this.”

They gather around the porthole, the silence in the room was deafening. “There are thousands of them,” Rose breaths in awe and horror, gazing upon the ships outside.

“Daleks…” River says with a touch of dismay, “millions of Daleks.”

“And cybermen,” Rose adds, nodding to the cyber ships in the distance.

“Yes,” River nods, “we’d need an _army_ to get through that.”

Rose shifts her gaze between the cyber ships in the distance and the Daleks…and an idea occurs to her, a mad and completely _barmy_ idea but if it worked...

“No,” River says suddenly, “I know what you’re thinking and it’s _mad_ —it’d never work.”

“How impressive would that be though?” Rose grins at her, “oh come on…your husbands out there in the middle of all _that_ —how awesome would it be?”

“No,” River tells her firmly.

“What?” Amy says, “what idea?”

“Rose seems to think we could use the cybermen to break through the Dalek lines and get to the Doctor,” River supplies easily, “I was thinking it too but it was a fleeting idea…there’s no way…”

“Missy did it,” Rose shrugs lightly, more to herself then to anyone else.

“ _Yes_ ,” River argues, “but _we_ are not _Missy_ and we don’t have that kind of technology on hand.”

“So,” Rose says expectantly, “we take out the cyber controller and hack into the hive mind of the ship—bingo… _control_ \---you know Missy?”

“Haven’t met her,” River says, “I know of her because the Doctor’s mentioned her once or twice—when did she do that by the way?”

Rose just grins, “spoilers.”

River rolls her eyes and looks out the porthole, “this is _mad_.”

“It’ll work,” Rose grins.

“We really _are_ going to die,” Rory says somewhere in the background, “I knew it.”

“I _do_ love to make an entrance,” River muses aloud.

“So,” Amy says, “how do we get from _here_ …the outpost to over _there_ , the ship?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Rose tells her with a nod to the camera just behind Amy’s head, “they’ve already seen us.” She turns away from the porthole, the sound of energy crackling in the air as the others duck down to hide. She pulls the screwdriver from her pocket, trying not to giggle at the sudden sharp zing of metal as it extends. “ _I’ve always wanted to do that_ ,” she tells River, fighting the urge to grin.

“Is that the Master’s screwdriver?” River blinks at her, “He gave you that?”

“Sort of,” Rose evades easily and stands just as the first cybermen turns the corner, “Playtime!”

 _Bang_!

The cybermen goes down with a shriek as the laser rips a hole right through him. “Score one for me!”

“I want a laser!” River shouts over the noise of battle, “how come you get a _laser_?”

“Because my boyfriend’s _cooler_ ,” Rose grins cheekily at her and shoots another and another, behind them Amy steals a gun from one of the fallen cybermen and starts blasting a path towards the transport waiting just behind them.

“Rory!” she calls, her husband following her, kicking away anything that got to close. Tosh is with them too, swiping a gun as well. They all pack into the transport like sardines and River hits the button, the crackle of energy surging around them as it dematerializes and rematerializes back on the main ship.

“Right,” Rose says, the lot of them squeezed into the transport uncomfortably. “Now the real work begins.”

“I hate cybermen,” Rory mutters, grabbing a gun from off the wall nearby. “Let’s do this.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

Four flights of cybermen later, and Rose has been shot three times, died twice and woke up suddenly, scaring the living shit out of anyone standing nearby. It was starting to get funny, or at least it was until River gets shot. “Oh crap!” Rose says, scrambling on all fours to evade laser fire as she presses a hand down over River’s shoulder to stem the blood flow. “Sorry, crap…this was a stupid idea!”

“ _Take him out_ ,” River grits out furiously, nodding to the cyber controller, “ _now_ it’s personal—this was my favorite jumper.”

“Where’s the others?” Rose grits her teeth, shielding them with a bit of old steel table.

“Tosh is waiting at the helm for the controller to go down—she can hack into the system, Amy’s running interference while we go after the controller.”

“Well they definitely know were here,” Rose says cheerfully—sort of—the sound of alarms blaring overhead as she pulls the screwdriver from her pocket and aims at the controller, “You ruined my friend’s jumper…. bad move mate— _bad move_.” She hits the button, and rather than a laser…she just stares and stares, “ _Oops_ —wrong button.”

“Sweet lord…” River makes a face of disgust, “what did you _do_ to him?”

“Tissue compression eliminator,” Rose trails off with a mutual look of disgust on her face, especially when the cyber controller’s little head pops, “Oh that’s _foul_.”

“Well he’s not entirely organic,” River says, “I don’t think the Master intended that to be used on cybermen.”

“I want one of those,” River tells her as she gets to her feet, nodding to the screwdriver in Rose’s hand as she climbs up onto the dais above and snatches away the headset from where the cyber controller was. “Now… _now_ comes the real work—Tosh you ready?”

“Ready!” Tosh calls and starts the hack, using every last ounce of knowledge to weave her way into the cyber network.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

 

“This is going to take ages,” Rose says, helping River connect cables to relay the main power source and direct it to the station where Tosh is working.

“It’ll be _fun_ she says,” Amy’s voice muses aloud from across the room where she works with Rory to secure the door, “It’ll be _easy_ , she says.”

“Told you we should have just stayed home,” Rory grumbles irritably.

“Don’t you miss it?” Amy says after a beat quietly, her gaze on the others and then on her husband’s face, “this…doing this…. I mean,” Amy smiles faintly, “we’ll get to see the Doctor again.”

“I miss our _home_ Amy,” Rory says quietly, “I miss the life we were building…were getting to old for this, you and me. I mean sure,” he sighs heavily, “I do miss it…of course I miss it—who wouldn’t? But I wanted our normal life _more_.”

“Almost there,” Tosh’s voice echoes overhead, “Got it! —were in, keep hold of the power…give me everything you’ve got, I’m going to patch control into the head set.”

“Trick is,” River says, looking at the headset in her hands, “anybody who wears this is going to have cyber technology uploaded into their mind.”

“I can survive that,” Rose says, “Bad Wolf will fix it.”

“You take it for granted,” River counters, “you don’t know if it can.”

“Guess we’ll find out,” Rose tells her as she takes the headset.

“No,” River grabs her wrist, “let me do it.”

“I can do this River,” Rose reassures her, “I can…really...” she frowns, glancing down at the hand on her wrist, “I can….” Her eyes glow for a moment, gold glittering in their depths and then a frown curves her lips downward, “You can’t regenerate.”

“Stop it,” River says sharply, yanking her hand away, “stop looking at it.”

“I’m sorry,” Rose blinks, looking away from her, “I wasn’t trying to pry….it was the skin to skin contact…when I touch people it’s automatic—hang on—you’re a time lord…how come I can see your time line?”

“Because I’m only half,” River explains without meeting her gaze, “I’m part human too…my biochemistry was altered by time spent in the vortex while Amy was still pregnant with me.”

“Bloody hell,” Rose blinks as she puts on the headset, “here goes nothing—blimey I’ve always wanted to build my own army.”

“That’s not reassuring,” River says with a nervous frown, more worried about the cyber tech killing Rose then Rose deciding to run rampant across the universe with a cyber army—she seriously doubted the blond had it in her.

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

The rumbling outside rattles the cage he sits in. The Doctor lifts his head, blinking into the gloom. Daleks don’t take prisoners, but he was special. He was being taken to Dalek high command, and from what he knew, that ship was currently in orbit as he sat there waiting. “Oi you, tri-cycle,” he says aloud, “what’s going on out there?”

“Prisoners are not to be associated with,” the Dalek replies evenly, returns to ignoring him.

“Yes, I know that,” the Doctor rolls his eyes, “but I’m not just any prisoner, am I?”

 _Boom_!

He watches, blinking into the dust and debris as an explosion rocks the ship and the Dalek outside his cell is blasted sideways, it screeches as it is incinerated in a hail of fire and debris.

“Well…” he says as he stands, “that was easy.”

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

“Rose I can’t keep the connection for much longer!” Tosh shouts worriedly, “they’re fighting back!”

Rose knew she was out of time, but they were nearly through the lines, breeching right through to the main Dalek ship. The cybermen were fighting for control again, burning through the firewall Tosh put in place to protect them. Whatever technology they used, it was giving her a splitting migraine. Bad Wolf was repairing the damage just as fast as the tech could create it…and her vision was starting to blur. “Shit…” Rose pants, “shit…it _hurts_ …fuck it hurts!”

“No!” River shouts, “Rose don’t think about the pain—the cybermen will interpret that as a malfunction in the controller and come looking for you—to repair you—we’ll be up to our necks in cybermen in seconds!”

“Shit!” Tosh shouts, “Hurry up!”

_Boom!_

“They’re breeching the ship,” Tosh shouts, “We’re being boarded!”

“Take them out,” Rose commands, “Destroy the intruders.”

 

                                                       

* * *

 

 

The Doctor was known to meddle, but this went _beyond_ meddling. He crawls through the grating above the corridor, over Daleks and cybermen, blasting each other to pieces as he makes his way towards the top of the ship, towards the control center. His Tardis was up there, and that’s where he needed to be.

He really wished he’d brought Clara along for this right now.

Speaking of Clara…

His phone was ringing.

“Clara,” he says, tapping his glasses, “I can’t talk right now…”

“You said you’d go get us chips,” her voice says over the ear piece in his ear, “you’ve been gone for a _week_ —where are you?”

“Oh somewhere,” he says casually—too casually.

“Is that gunfire I hear—are you in the middle of a battle?” Clara asks suspiciously, “are you off on some adventure without me?”

“Maybe,” he says evasively. “I thought you were busy with your _boyfriend_.”

“Look, can you come round?…I need to talk to you,” she tells him, and he can detect a hint of uncertainty in her voice, but he couldn’t see her face so he wasn’t entirely sure that wasn’t just usual human behavior.

“Sure,” he says, “I’ll be there soon…just finishing up here—oh I have to go sorry, bye see you soon!” he says, hanging up before she can argue.

She _was_ rather bossy.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

 

They use what power they have left to board the Dalek ship, before they lose all control of the cybermen and end up running for their lives from both Daleks and Cybermen both—when they weren’t shooting each other of course. “Stupid idea,” Rose shouts to nobody in particular, “stupidest idea I’ve _ever_ had!”

“Yes, well how do you think _I_ feel,” River shouts back, “I _actually_ went along with it!”

“River?” his voice echoes from somewhere above and she slams to a halt, looking upward in confusion. “I’m up here…help me get this grate open!”

“Doctor?” River says, reaching up to pull the grate off above her, “what are you doing up there?”

“Oh, you know,” he says, dropping down into the corridor next to her, “having a bit of a walk round the ship—stretch my legs, you know…that sort of thing.”

“Were here to get you out,” River says, “me and the others…”

“What others?” the Doctor asks as they start to run.

 

                                                                       

* * *

 

 

 

“Almost there,” River grins at Tosh—she can’t help it—the thrill of the danger, the rush of adrenaline…she _missed_ this.  She winces, a hand to the side of her head as her head throbs with pain.

“Still hurting?” Tosh asks as they duck behind a large ventilation pipe, watching the main crew on the flight deck.

“Very much,” Rose winces in pain, “Daleks have absolutely _no_ taste in style, do they?” Rose muses aloud when she peeks over the pipe to view the flight deck.

“How are we getting past them?” Tosh asks curiously, “It’s just us...River’s disappeared and the dynamic duo’s busy trying to hold the doors.”

“Easy,” Rose sighs heavily, “I’m gonna scare the shit out them,” Rose tells her with a reassuring pat on her shoulder as she gets up and strides confidently right into the room, “Hello boys… _I’m back_.”

The room stops, and simultaneously eight Dalek eye stalks turn towards her, and she smiles brightly, “Hi! I’m looking for my---…” she goes down without another word, a flash of laser light right to the chest.

She gets back up again in seconds, “Ow….as I was saying,” she glowers hotly at the Dalek who shot her, “you owe me a new coat by the way—as I was saying, Hi! I’m looking for my friend the Doctor…have you seen him?”

“You are not permitted, you will be exterminated! Exterminate! Exterminate!” the Daleks shout, firing at her all together.

The light of laser fire freezes midair, Rose rolling her eyes as she steps around it, “Ok boys…look, don’t be difficult. I just need to find my friend…where’s the Doctor? I know he’s here—and don’t bother hiding the big blue box over there in the corner…bit difficult… _glaringly_ obvious even.”

“Who are you?” another voice echoes, and Rose meets the…well if you could call it a _gaze_ , of the biggest Dalek she’s ever seen encased inside a glass sort of Dalek casing.

“Supreme Dalek,” Rose says with a mocking bow, “Nice to see you again—hang on didn’t I obliterate you from time and space?”

“Who are you?” it echoes again.

“I’m Bad Wolf—lovely to meet you,” Rose says with a cheeky grin, a wolfish gleam in her eyes.

 

 


	6. Lets Be Villains Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

“You cannot be—Bad Wolf is a story,” Dalek Supreme says, his voice carrying across the hall.

“Where’s my friend?” Rose asks him, “you damn well know what I’m capable of—I’m Bad Wolf—I really think you should give me what I want.”

“We do not recognize you,” the Supreme announces, “you will be exterminated--…” it stops mid-sentence, when the Daleks behind Rose begins to disintegrate piece by piece, Rose meeting his gaze firmly as it happens.

“I am Bad Wolf,” she tells him firmly, “and you don’t tell me _no_.” she steps forward, the hull beneath her feet warping and twisting as it ages and withers away, “I’ll rip this ship apart and destroy your whole _miserable_ race if you don’t tell me where the Doctor is, _right now_ because I’m too old…and I’m tired…and I’m really mad because you’ve ruined my favorite coat—so _where is he_!” Rose shouts angrily, her eyes burning gold.

The supreme says nothing, his gaze not on Rose but on the steadily warping hull coming right towards him, “Halt…” he says suddenly, “halt and I will…I will…”

“You will what?” Rose hisses darkly.

“Rose…what are you doing?” Amy’s voice behind her, “Rose there coming…the cybermen…Rory and I couldn’t keep the doors…we had to run.”

Rose stops, Amy’s voice waking her from her sudden disassociation, blinking away the gold from her eyes, “Amy…” Rose says, Amy was her friend, Amy Pond…companion to the Doctor. “Amy Pond….what should I do?”

“What?” Amy blinks in surprise.

“Tell me what I should do…should I destroy him? Should I destroy them all?” Rose asks, “I’m old Amy…I’ve got a bit of a morality issue—comes with the territory of living with the Master for so long—so _what should I do_?”

“If you kill the Dalek supreme they’ll never stop hunting us,” Amy says after a long pause, “and you’re not like that…your better than that,” she tells Rose tentatively, stepping closer before she meets the Dalek’s gaze, “Where is the Doctor?”

“Unknown,” he says suddenly, his voice echoing, “he is not contained.”

“River must have found him then,” Amy surmises, “Rose…we’ve got him…let’s go now.”

Rose stares and stares…and then turns away, “Fine.”

The world around her resides, the ship righting itself. “I hate Daleks,” Rose muses allowed, walking past Amy.

“I can see that,” Amy says, watching her wearily as she follows along behind her.

Then she falls….and it’s like it’s in slow motion, her red hair flowing like fire on the wind, her body crumbling to the floor, the look of shock and pain on her face, the way hair frames her face in a hallow of flame as she sprawls across the floor, amber eyes unseeing and lifeless.

“Amy…” Rose breaths, the burn of a Dalek laser still stinging the air as Rose turns, looking at the lone Dalek in the corner, the one that she missed, the one who was lucky enough to have been hidden in the corridor. “That was very stupid of you.”

Then she explodes.

 

                                                                       

* * *

 

 

“What’s happening?” River shouts over the sound of burning metal, of exploding Daleks and cybermen, the hull beneath their feet twisting and warping, the world around them was burning.

“Don’t touch the walls!” the Doctor shouts, running headlong towards the flight deck where his Tardis was being held. “Don’t touch anything, touch it and your dead!”

They don’t even have to break through the hull door to the flight deck, it was withering away, burning away and turning to dust right in front of them. The whole ship was being ripped apart, and it wasn’t just the ship they stood on….

“No,” the Doctor says and there is real fear on his face, a look reflected on River’s face when she sees what’s happening outside….

“All of them...” River breaths, “they’re all burning…disintegrating…”

“No,” the Doctor’s eyes weren’t on the window, they were on the woman at the center of the room in the flight deck, on the red head sprawled across the floor.

“Amy!” Rory’s voice screams as he runs past them both, Tosh right behind him, “Amy!” he shouts again, sliding to his knees, swinging his wife’s lifeless body up into his arms, “No…no no no …Amy wake up…Amy… _Amy_!” He sobs, rocking her body back and forth in his arms, looking up pleadingly at River, “River…she’s dead…River do something _please_! Help her!”

Rose can vaguely hear them, Rory’s screaming, River’s voice….an odd Scottish burr she’s never heard before. Tosh is shouting at her but Rose can’t make out the words. What she can see, what she can hear…are the timelines of every Dalek in existence…every last one—and she would destroy them all. One by one they die, and they burn and she can’t stop because it’s not enough—it never feels like it’s enough. Burning and burning and burning, she laughs—why is she laughing? Is she crying? She might be crying too because she got Amy killed and it’s all her _fault_. Rage is a living thing clawing its way out of her boiling blood, Bad Wolf exploding in gold light as she lets go, as she burns the Daleks out of the universe like carving away poisonous rot from a wound.

“I bring life…” she says, because she can—and behind her Amy gasps for air, jerking upwards in Rory’s arms, “I bring destruction…” she says again, watching the Daleks die, in every part of the universe, in every time line…in every world….no more…

_No more…_

That voice, echoing through timelines…who was saying that?

_No more…_

Then she hears the cloister bells shrieking from within the Tardis, a light burning to her right as the doors open….and a Dalek emerges.

Wait… _what_?

Daleks…burning Daleks…and that Dalek was no different as she watches it burn and disintegrate…until she realizes who it is. “ _No_!” she shouts, horror on her face, undoing the damage as quickly as she’d made it happen…but instead of a Dalek, a human woman emerges from the ashes—Oswin.

Rose waves a hand, she would save Oswin Oswald…she’d do Clara Oswald one better—she brings life after all, pulling apart her timeline and piecing it back together just as easily, giving her a new life and a second chance in another universe all together. “Reborn…” Rose muses with a smile, “Life renewed.”

“Stop!” another voice shouts angrily, a voice that breaks through the haze of rage swirling in her mind as Rose turns to face him, a tall man with gray hair and a Scottish accent—and eyebrows sharp enough to nick her fingers on, “Stop!”

The oncoming storm…she’s never had that look turned on her before.

“You cannot stop me,” Rose says, “I am Bad Wolf…I can change everything…I can fix it _all_.”

“You’re a _murderer_!” he shouts coldly, darkness in his eyes, “this isn’t saving the universe, your murdering an entire species!”

“You would defend them?” Rose counters with hate coating her words, “they’re like an infection on the universe….and I will be the _cure_.”

“ _The hell you will_ ,” the Doctor shouts back, yanking out his screwdriver.

Stupid fool—he thinks that’ll stop her?

She turns her back on him, returns to her work—which was probably the stupidest thing she’s ever done aside from trying to control a cyber army. Rule number one—never turn your back on the Doctor.

“You _hate_ them as much as I do Doctor,” Rose says, and before him Amy and Rory suddenly vanish in a blinding gold light. “You burn with rage for their destruction—let me finish what you could not.”

Another ship, another planet screams as Daleks die and their ships destroyed, and as it happens the burning light of the vortex rips across the cyber ships, seeking out any threat to the universe.

“ _No more_ ,” the Doctor says, his voice echoing those whispered words weaving down through the vortex and into her mind.

She gasps, shock and agony ripping through her body—she can’t _breathe_ —she can’t move, what has he done? The Tardis is leaving, she can see it out of the corner of her eye, the woman on the floor—Oswin is gone. Something sharp is stinging at the back of her neck and she realizes the Doctor is pressing his screwdriver right up against the nape of her neck, a blue electrical energy crackling as it rattles through her body.

Bad Wolf has turned to a block of ice in her head, her body turning to lead as she tips forward onto her knees, and then sprawls face down onto the floor. The last thing she sees before the darkness claims her is the Doctor, walking away from her.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

It’s been days or weeks, she isn’t sure.

She’s so tired she could barely stand, barely open her eyes. She’s lucky Bad Wolf didn’t kill her, and she wonders what she was doing at all. How could she have done that? How could she have been so stupid? What happened?

Amy died.

Amy woke up again…

Amy died and it was all her _fault_ …she killed Oswin…killed her and put her back together again in the blink of an eye—what the hell was wrong with her? She committed mass genocide of an entire species…or did she? Rose remembers vaguely, the idea that she created another Dalek—the last Dalek—living in another universe.

Oswin.

Oswin was the birth of another race—so what did that make Oswin now? Oswin in the other universe living on Earth, did that mean Oswin was no longer human? Did it mean she gave the people of Skaro another chance without even realizing it? They weren’t always tin metal tri-cycles, Rose mused as she lies on a hard metal bed inside a cell—she thinks she’s in a cell—somewhere in the Tardis. The people of Skaro were once humanoid, thus perhaps…perhaps she gave them a second chance at life?

“Doctor,” Rose says into the empty gloom of the corridor outside, her voice carrying, “I know you can hear me…I’m sorry….I don’t know what I was thinking….please….let me out.”

She gets no response…she doesn’t expect too either.

 


	7. Gallifrey Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

Imprisoned—that’s what she was, trapped inside a cell in the bowls of the Tardis for months on end. He won’t speak to her, she hasn’t even seen him once. It may be because he’s too angry to speak to her, and she couldn’t blame him. Rose could vaguely recall what she did but she knows it was bad….and words couldn’t describe the shame she felt knowing what she did. Killing the Daleks was necessary, wasn’t it? They spent decades and decades killing everyone else—it was about time they were afraid of something too…. right? She saved Amy too, and fixed Oswin. She put everything right—sort of—now that she thinks of where exactly she sent Amy and Rory…which also explains why they had no memory of how they’d gotten to the other universe.

Blimey she hopes she sent them home the second time around.

Food appears in the far corner—the Tardis did that for her, automated food drop off so that the Doctor wouldn’t have too.

Lazy—he’s also hypocritical if she were splitting hairs.

He burned how many Daleks over the course of his life? He did what he thought was right and that’s exactly what she was doing—mind you—she didn’t really need to do the whole _you can’t stop me_ super villain monologue which she’s ashamed to remember she did…but…

“Monologuing…” Rose says aloud, “ _really_?”

The Master would be _ashamed_.

“Doctor,” Rose groans aloud, rubbing her face, “you can’t keep ignoring me forever!”

“I’m not,” he says, and suddenly she realizes he’s standing just outside her cell, watching her thoughtfully.

“Hey,” Rose says, sitting up, “Hi.”

“Hello,” he says though his face is cold and hard.

“I know…” Rose says, gazing down at her hands—wait what’s that? There was a funny looking silver bracelet on her hands, humming with energy. A line of amber glows at the center of it, encircling her wrist. “What’s this?”

“Hand cuffs,” he says casually, “or something like it—keeps Bad Wolf from getting free.”

“I am Bad Wolf,” Rose frowns.

“Exactly,” he says quietly without meeting her gaze, “Rose…I’ve spent months trying to sort out what to do with you. This is my fault…I created this…years and years ago on Satellite five and it’s only fair I take responsibility for it.”

“I chose to do this,” Rose counters, “that isn’t your fault.”

“True,” he frowns at her, “but you wouldn’t have done it if I’d never taken you to Satellite five to begin with.”

“You left me with the Valeyard,” Rose scowls after a beat.

“What?” he looks horrified.

“And he tried to kill me…and blow of the Earth…kidnapped me…ruined my life….” Rose glowers hotly at the floor, “you don’t get to judge me.”

“Not judging,” The Doctor says after a pause, “Judging myself right now though…where is he now?”

“Not a clue,” Rose says flatly.

“Where did you get this screwdriver?” he presses, wielding the gold and silver object he found in her coat pockets.

“Found it,” Rose stares at the floor.

“Not likely,” he counters coldly.

“Not telling,” Rose counters just as quickly.

“Fine,” he snaps.

They stare at each other in silence then, “You can’t just _keep_ me.”

“I can,” he says, “and I will—I can fix this…somehow. I’ll find a way but until then,” he says as he pats the bars of her cell, “welcome home.”

                                                         

* * *

 

 

She wasn’t accustomed to being at odds with him like this—this wasn’t how she planned it. She didn’t know him anymore, she didn’t understand him at all. Tosh was on Earth somewhere, apparently, he dumped her off at Unit and left without even bothering to ask where she lived. River went on her way because he didn’t trust her not to strangle Rose in her sleep. The Doctor doesn’t speak to her often, unless it was to bark orders or ask her to pass the biscuits. He lets her out of her cell but only to roam the Tardis, keeps most doors sealed and the controls of the console are locked only for his use. She doesn’t go on adventures with him, she stays on the Tardis and cleans or roams the halls endlessly, bouncing a rubber ball against the corridor walls in an effort to stave off boredom.

“This is ridiculous,” Rose mutters irritably, stalking towards the console room when she hears shouting.

“Oi,” Rose snaps, “what the _hell_ is--…” she freezes, her gaze on Clara’s face.

The Doctor puts a finger to his lips when he meets her gaze and then turns to Clara, whose hands were on the console and her eyes were closed firmly. When they snap open, she blinks away the fog, realizing the Doctor tricked her. They go throw an entire conversation with Clara noticing her once, finally the Doctor says, “Clara this is Rose…she’s coming with us.”

“I’m what?” Rose asks him with raised eyebrows, “I’m not going _anywhere_ \--…”

“You’re going,” he says firmly, meeting her gaze with a hard expression.

“Ok,” Rose replies just as quickly, “right.”

“You,” the Doctor says as he walks past her, “with me _now_.”

 

                                                         

* * *

 

“Listen—shut up and listen,” he tells her firmly before she can argue, “we’re going to find Clara’s boyfriend if he can be found—you’re coming with us…go shower and get changed—you need it.” She turns to head towards her room but he catches her arm, turning her back towards him with a dark look on his face, “Clara is my best friend…you know what that’s like, we were friends once too. I care about my friends Rose, I think you know that. If you’ve meddled with her timeline…if you’ve changed anything--…”

“I didn’t hurt her,” Rose frowns, yanking her arm away, “spoilers…don’t ask I won’t tell you.” Rose turns away and stalks towards her room, glowering at him over her shoulder as she goes.

Wanker.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

 

They land inside a mausoleum…sort of.

Rose steps out, glowering at the Doctor’s back like her gaze could burn holes in his coat. She’s wearing a pressed black fifties dress with bubblegum pink heels, her hair swept up in a neat little coif. When he saw her, there was a haunted look in his face—her appearance echoed days long gone by, when she was bright and warm and human…when she wore pink all the time and smiled like the sun.

She still smiled, just not at him right now.

“Got lost in the wardrobe?” he quirks a brow.

“Buy that coat from a hobo?” Rose counters.

“I like his coat,” Clara murmurs, stepping past them out into the room. “Where are we?”

“Wherever the Tardis took us—where you took us,” he says as he steps further into the room.

“Fish tanks?” Clara says, stepping up to the glass of a tank where a skeleton sat underwater in a stone chair.

“Not fish tanks,” the Doctor says with a frown, “a tomb.”

“A _big_ tomb,” Rose adds, leaning over the railing to gaze upward at the levels above. “Lots…and lots tombs.”

The Doctor looks too, then back at the tanks behind him, scanning them with his screwdriver before he and Clara head upwards, climbing the stairs two and a time. Rose watches them go thoughtfully—he just saunters off without her, completely forgotten. That was the level he thought of her now, hardly at all…so little that she was nothing to him now. She expected yelling but not _this_ …not this cold separation.

 _Somebody_ had to do it…might as well have been her.

He sure as hell wasn’t going to do it.

Yes, what she did was wrong…but at least the Daleks were gone. Rose thumbs the bracelet on her wrist idly, she hates it because it suppresses Bad Wolf entirely, she was defenseless. Bad Wolf operated on a level just enough to keep her alive and somewhat immortal, enough to heal her but little more than that. The Doctor knew enough to keep it basic, she’d die without Bad Wolf—she was over four hundred years old.

Rose heaves a sigh as she hears commotion above her, the Doctor flailing like an idiot and Clara’s bizarre look as she leans over the railing, stares down at Rose expectantly and mouths, “save me.”

Rose makes a face and turns for the stairs, taking them two and a time to reach the others. She shouldn’t even be here—she needed to find the Master and yet here she was, defenseless and stalking up the stairs to save the Doctor from some unknown threat.

Well..maybe not a threat…

Rose rounds the corner and stares…and stares…and the woman across the room stares right back at her.

“You have not received the greeting package either,” the woman says purposefully, striding towards her confidently, Rose meeting her stride with purpose.

“No I haven’t,” Rose announces, catching her by the lapels of her coat and yanking her towards her, kissing Missy with everything she has. Unfortunately the Time Lady wasn’t expecting it and recovers quickly, Rose making a point of playing along.

The Doctor stares and so does Clara…both making a disgusted face.

“She’s an android…” Clara says as she clears her throat, stepping away when Rose backs Missy against a wall.

“Love me an android,” Rose says as she breaks the kiss, meeting Missy’s gaze with a impish grin.

“So, we’ve noticed,” the Doctor says, clearing his throat, “Right…erm……maintaining your heart—you were saying?” he says, motioning to Missy.

“Yes,” Missy blinks, a look of reprimand flashing in her eyes as she meets Roses gaze before turning to the Doctor with a gleam of excitement in her gaze, taking his hands and pressing them against her chest, “Yes…the Doctor maintains my hearts.”

“Doctor who?” the Doctor blinks at her in confusion.

Her expression drops as does the smile on her face, “Doctor _Chang_!”

 

                                         

* * *

 

 

“Birthday present,” Rose says when the Doctor and Clara disappear into the adjacent room.

“Shut up,” Missy says, tilting her head to one side, “you almost ruined my big entrance.”

“Missed you,” Rose shrugs, “you’re a great kisser…take your pick.”

“Don’t do that again,” she scolds Rose lightly, watching the little human lean over the railing to peer up at the enlarged Gallifreyan data matrix.

“So…giant flash drive…fish tanks—you’ve been busy…you do realize her boyfriend’s just died?” she asks, glancing back at Missy expectantly.

“ _Has he_?” Missy laughs, “Oh that’ll be fun later.”

“Leave Danny out this,” Rose asks pointedly.

“Not likely,” Missy scoffs, “don’t be stupid,” she tells her, circling Rose as she eyes her up and down. “Thief,” Missy says, swatting lightly at the skirt of Rose’s dress, “Black’s my color—get your own.” She sighs, leaning on her umbrella as she gazes up at the data matrix then at Rose with a sly grin. “Go and run along dear---you’re out of your league here.”

Rose makes a face, sticks her tongue out at her and stalks off to find the Doctor.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

 

“The water filters out anything inorganic,” Doctor Chang says as Rose enters the room.

“You said you could help me talk to Danny,” Clara cuts in.

“Yes of course,” Dr. Chang says, motioning for Clara to sit down.

Rose walks across the room, staring at the tank at the center of the room while the Doctor talks with Dr. Chang and Clara talks with Danny. She plays nice, listens to the conversation and acts casual before slipping out of the room again unseen.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

 

Missy rolls her eyes with exasperation when Rose returns, her umbrella resting against the floor, warm beneath her hands. Rose reaches up and casually tips her hat, brushing a stray lock of dark hair back behind her ear, “I love it…your beautiful.”

“Of course, I am dear,” Missy says on a sigh, “still a bit dense, are you?”

“You’d hate it if I were any smarter,” Rose tells with a nod. “Go on…impress me with your genius.”

Missy smiles with a tilt of her head, regarding Rose thoughtfully, “aren’t you supposed to be off rescuing me?”

“Well if I knew where you were, I would,” Rose counters easily.

“Still got my screwdriver?” she grins.

“Of course,” Rose says, pulling it from the top of her dress with an expectant look. “Nicked it out of the bins when he wasn’t looking.”

“Mmm…I bet that was a fun conversation to have,” Missy snickers. Her gaze shifts down, noting the bracelet on Rose’s wrist, “He’s got you all tied up, doesn’t he? Poor thing,” she tisks lightly, and taking out her phone, taps it against the bracelet, shorting it out, “Off you pop—go play or whatever it is you do. I’m busy right now—you’ll find me on Gallifrey…naughty people went and stole me away.”

“Haven’t actually got to that conversation yet,” Rose trails off, watching the look of shock and irritation flash across her face.

“Haven’t told him yet?” Missy glowers briefly, “you march yourself in there and tell him right now Rose Tyler,” she says pointedly, “I’ll not have that little secret kept.”

“You just want to see him pout,” Rose rolls her eyes, “you’d love to rub it in his face.”

“Of course,” Missy tells her, “I can’t very well do that if you don’t tell him, _now can I_?”

“Tell me what?” the Doctor’s voice echoes in the halls as he approaches, shifting his gaze between Missy and Rose, “what’s going on here—and you,” he says pointing at Missy, “there’s something very wrong with this place.” He turns towards the tanks, grappling at his hair, staring at them pointedly, “I’m missing something…missing something _huge_ and it’s staring me in the face—my stupid old face!”

“I’ll say,” Rose says dryly and winces when Missy elbows her sharply in the ribs.

“What is this—oh,” he breaths allowed as his gaze finds the far wall, “no….no…no…no….” he turns in a circle as Missy steps past Rose, meeting his gaze.

“What is this….” He says, rounding on Missy.

“Oh Doctor,” she says on a sigh as Doctor Chang bursts from the doors and she turns to look at him. Rose has never seen the Master in action before, never witnessed the game between the Doctor and himself. She kills Dr. Chang without so much as batting and eyelash, and Rose can’t help but wonder if she’s showing off for the Doctor or for her…or maybe both of them?

“Rose…get out of here…get out of here—go get Clara!” the Doctor says, waving her off.

“Yes,” Missy calls, “Run along—off you pop! Running’s so much more fun—do _run_!” she says, aiming her phone right at Rose.

“ _Shit_ ,” Rose says, moving just in time, the floor behind where she once stood now smoking where the laser from her phone hit.

“Stop it,” the Doctor says frantically, “no…where am I…I’ve got to figure out where I am!” he says, running for the doors, Missy following. “Stairs!” he says, hurrying up them.

“Well I’m _not_ a Dalek…” Missy says with a roll of her eyes.

Rose realizes in that moment she was free to make a run for it, the Doctor distracted and Clara trapped in the other room.

Oh well, they’ll sort it out.

She runs.

 

                                                                       

* * *

 

 

She doesn’t get very far.

“You!” the Doctor’s voice booms when she bolts down the front stairs and into the city, “and you!” he says, turning towards Missy, comprehension dawning in his gaze.

“Well I very well couldn’t keep calling myself _the Master_ , now could I?” she grins at him impishly, reveling in the horror in his gaze.

“Damn…” Rose grits her teeth, knowing she won’t get away just yet.

“Are you still alive?” Missy says, noting Rose’s presence.

Translation— _why are you still here ruining my big entrance?_

“Leave her out of it,” the Doctor says sternly, “leave her alone.”

“Yeah,” Rose chimes in firmly, “and…yeah.”

“Hang on,” the Doctor stops, “you’ve got her screwdriver.”

“Um…” Rose’s eyes widen, “I found it…”

“Wait…” the Doctor stares at her like he doesn’t know her at all, like she’s a total stranger, “you knew…you weren’t surprised at all were you—because you _knew_ …you knew what they were.”

“Uh…” Rose smiles sheepishly, “well…”

“ _Run_ idiot,” Missy rolls her eyes.

“Right,” Rose says with a nod and bolts down the street.

“Anyways,” Missy grins at the Doctor, “where were we?”

 

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

Gallifrey…he’s on Gallifrey…how the _hell_ was she going to get to Gallifrey?

Oh right…Bad Wolf— _duh_.

She can see it as she runs, Gallifrey as it glows in the dark of space, a burning red planet. She imagines she can see the people who live there, the forest of silver trees, the manor house where the Master grew up….and then suddenly she was there.

She runs across an open expanse of land, glittering silver leaves above her head, flowing red grass at her feet, brushing across her knees as she bolts towards the manor house. “No wait…this isn’t where…” she groans aloud, irritated, “I didn’t mean go _here_!”

If they had him, he’d be at the citadel for sure. Which meant she’d need to take the train, which was a mile away and she was on foot.

“Oh, screw it,” Rose scowls angrily, so they knew about her, so they knew what she was…she didn’t care anymore.

Rose vanishes.

 

                                                                       

* * *

 

 

She doesn’t care when they gasp, or when they stare and point, gold light bursting around her in waves as she stalks right towards the lord president. “Lord President,” Rose says firmly, “you’ve got my friend…I want him back.” He turns his gaze upon her, whoever the hell he was. Rose stops short of him, meets his gaze and stares him down, “I want my friend back.”

“Of course you do,” he says casually, watching her thoughtfully, “how else would we have gotten you here?”

Rose freezes, staring at him in confusion, “I don’t understand.”

“I’m sure you don’t,” the Lord President makes a face and turns away, “Follow me Rose Tyler.”

 

                                                                       

* * *

 

 

“You owe me money,” someone to her left whispers to another as she passes by, snickering with her gaze on Rose, “told you she’d do it.”

Rose feels the flush of embarrassment grazing her cheeks but she keeps her head held high as she walks. She is led into a room where a tall blond woman waits, nodding politely to the Lord President before he leaves the room and Rose is alone with her.

“My name is Romana,” she begins slowly, “welcome to Gallifrey Rose Tyler.”

“What’s this about?” Rose demands angrily, “Where is the Master?”

“He’s here,” Romana says, motioning to the room just behind her. Rose glares at her and stalks past, find the Master sprawled unconscious on a bed. “What’s wrong with him—what’s happened?”

“He won’t wake,” Romana says quietly, watching Rose sit at the edge of the bed and take his hand in hers. “He’s dying…attacked and robbed of all his regenerative energy. We stole him away from you to lure you here but unfortunately, he tried to escape…and came across some rather unpleasant company. When we found him, his assailant had fled and he was near death.”

“Fix him,” Rose demands.

“We will,” Romana says, “for a price.”

“What?” Rose sputters, “He’s one of _you_!”

“He’s a criminal of the highest degree, committed crimes so unspeakable they’re not to be repeated aloud. We won’t save him without some kind of repayment in kind.”

“What do you want?” Rose asks frantically, “ _Please_! I’ll do anything…”

“Anything Rose Tyler?” Romana asks slowly, “would you save us?”

“What?” Rose frowns in confusion.

“Save us Rose Tyler…save Gallifrey and we’ll restore him,” Romana says pointedly.

“How…how do I save you?” Rose asks her, tears burning in her eyes—he was _dying_ and Romana wanted to sit and have a fucking _conversation_.

“Change his mind,” Romana says, “go into the past…change his mind and stop him from burning Gallifrey.”

Rose stares and stares, horror crossing her features, “you want me to…to go back to the time war and _stop_ the Doctor from destroying Gallifrey?”

“Not stop him,” Romana says, “Change his mind.”

“How,” Rose presses.

“Bad Wolf,” Romana replies easily, “you have the power to do it.”

“It’d kill me,” Rose says evenly, “I’d die….I can’t use Bad Wolf for that long…it couldn’t sustain me for that long…it’d require too much power to go back that far and change his mind…”

“Yes,” Romana nods solemnly. “That is our price…change his mind and the Master lives.”

Rose looks away from her, gazing down at the Master. She leans close, kissing his forehead softly, closing her eyes as she fights back tears, “I love you…always have…always will…don’t forget me.” She stands and turns, looking at Romana. “Fine…I’ll do it.”

 

 


	8. Gallifrey Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own any of it or make any money from any of it, all of it belongs to those who created Doctor Who.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this is the last chapter for this book, and yes I realize the book was short. I usually prefer longer stories, I like to write longer chapters. I always knew this book would be short though, and the next book will be much longer. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, who gave kudos, who read it. I'm thrilled people like this, it's been such a long story to write and we're not even done yet. I've had this idea in the works for so long, I'm just happy I finally got around to writing it. I hope you all enjoy the next book, and I will see you then.  
> Thanks for reading!

“This,” Romana explains as they enter a large cylindrical room, “is what you’ll need to reach the Doctor.” At her feet was a square mechanical looking box, it reminded Rose of the inside of a clock turned outwards.

“You want me,” Rose says skeptically, “to get inside that tiny square box?”

Romana smiles faintly, “no…well yes,” she sighs, “Bad Wolf is capable of many things—if you can alter the course of human history…rewrite timelines,  then it should be simple for you to rearrange your atoms to fit accordingly.”

“You know I’ve had this conversation before,” Rose tells her, “and let me say…I’m really not a Tardis.”

“It’s bigger on the inside,” Romana reassures her.

“Still not a Tardis,” Rose argues.

“Close enough,” Romana counters.

“Crap,” Rose sighs, uncomfortable with the idea of cramming herself into a tiny box.

“It’s simple enough,” Romana explains, “Just let go…let Bad Wolf do the work for you. Once inside the box, it’ll keep you in status until the Doctor lets you out.”

“You don’t have anything in pink?” Rose says, eyeing the bright gold box thoughtfully. Romana doesn’t seem amused by the joke so she adds, “Gold will do.” She steps forward and closes her eyes, willing Bad Wolf forward. The thought of this was terrifying so she didn’t think about it, running the action like a computer running a program in the background. Instead she thought of the Master, of Missy, she thought of Jackie Tyler and Pete and Tony. She promised to come home…she lied.

She hoped the Master would tell Jackie what happened, not that it would win him any points with her family, but at least her Mum would know the truth. She can feel it happening somewhere in the background, Bad Wolf taking over, the vortex singing like a symphony in her head and all around her.

Then quite suddenly, she sleeps.

 

                                                                       

* * *

 

 

When she wakes, blurry eyed and confused, she can hear the voice of an older gentlemen, muttering irritably. Over the past few centuries she’s heard so many voices, she was starting to feel like a genie in a lamp. Irritably, Rose would like to tell this annoying old man that she was not in fact, a genie to grant whatever _barmy_ wish he desired when suddenly she realized she was _free_.

He wanted a big red button— _fine_.

She rematerializes outside the box, glancing down at the bizarre outfit she wears. It worked she supposed, gave her a sort of mysterious atmosphere as she sits atop the box and watches him pace. Over the years, the Time Lords had a name for her, the called her _The Moment_ , but Rose knew she was Bad Wolf. Bad Wolf in a box, in a box called The Moment.

Wow…how long had she been in that box?

“Get off that!” the old man suddenly shouts and Rose blinks at him in surprise, standing just as quickly as he rushes over to check her prison’s welfare. “How did you get in here?” he snaps at her, “Get out! Can’t you see I’m….” he freezes when the thought clicks and turns to look at her in surprise.

 “Hello!” she grins cheekily with a little wave.

“Your…you’re the interface?” he stares and stares.

“Yes,” Rose tells him, “I chose this form,” she pauses, glancing down at herself…what would be a really good lie for this? “Because it’s what seemed to make you most comfortable. I believe this form was called…Rose Tyler…you know I can hear you, all of you…blathering on in your little world rambling about war and destruction and then suddenly you come along and out I pop,” Rose smiles, tilting her head as she slides her fingers across the big red button she made just for him, “look…I even made you that big red button you love so much.” Rose paces the room, tapping her chin thoughtfully, “Here look,” she says as she motions above his head, “tell me something…why?”

“Because it must be done,” he says slowly, “it’s the only way.”

“Why?” Rose quirks a brow, “are you sure,” Rose waves her hand, and a time tunnel appears. “Let something from your---…” she trails off, blinking in surprise as a fez suddenly flies through and lands at her feet. “Well…that wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Are you telling me you’ve got a _conscious_?” the Doctor sputters in disbelief, “we created you…”

“Yes,” Rose says, “and I’ve been in that box for so long that I’ve become sentient— _surprise_ ,” she grins at him. Then she turns solemn, nodding towards the time tunnel, “Come on gran-dad…let’s find out what life’s be like if you burned your home.”

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

They appear in a flash of light and Rose turns in a circle, nibbling nervously at the corner of her lip, “right…middle of a forest, did _not_ see that coming.”

“Where are we?” the Doctor asks, freezing mid-step when a woman in seventh century dress comes running into the clearing where they stand.

“She can’t see me,” Rose reminds him quietly, “say something idiot.”

“Oh—right,” he nods as he opens his mouth to speak but then something even stranger happens…two others show up, a tall skinny bloke with fantastic hair and another with a bow tie.

“Wow,” Rose blinks, “your fashion sense never does get better does it?”

She watches the interaction between them, amused by the antics. They turn towards the time tunnel behind them, examining it with their own respective screwdrivers. The tall skinny one with the great hair who Rose decides to label Ten says, “We’re confusing the polarity…”

Blimey she loved the Doctor.

Wait, _what_?

This wasn’t supposed to be some soul journey for her, but for him. How did _she_ get pulled into this mess? She was as old as the Doctor was when they first met, she didn’t need someone telling _her_ she needed to take a trip down memory lane.

 _Sand shoes…grand-dad_ —hey she called him that too, Rose decided she really liked the bloke with the bow tie. Maybe him regenerating wasn’t all that bad after all. Even inside that suit, beyond those eyes….it was still him.

“Uh yeah,” Rose comments lightly from the background, nodding to the only version of the Doctor who could see or hear her, “you’re going with them grand-dad, if I had to spend five centuries in a box to get you here, you are _so_ going along with this.”

And so it begins.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

It doesn’t take long for the genius twins to work out how to get the door open to the cell they currently occupied…that is of course, until it opens without anyone trying to open it in the first place. Rose rolls her eyes, quietly wondering how this man ever managed to survive two thousand years. The fun continues, Rose in the background whispering in the old man’s ear, nudging him in the right direction. She isn’t sure why they thought Rose could do this, why they thought she could convince him not to burn Gallifrey.

Some how she manages it though.

At the end of it all she returns to her little box, the little red button disappears and Rose goes back to sleep.

 

                                                                     

* * *

 

She wakes to the sound of shouting, someone was very angry. From inside her little box, she peers out at the world and sees the Master cornering Romana with fire in his gaze.

“Let her out,” he demands, “you had a deal.”

“Of course, were going to let her out,” Romana says calmly despite his rage,

“Save her,” he adds after a beat, “find a way.”

“We planned on doing that too,” Romana says as she lifts the gold box and sets it on an empty bed, “Out you come Rose Tyler.”

How did she get back here? Somebody had some explaining to do.

She was _free_ ….

And so very tired.

She was dying.

“Save her,” the Master says quietly.

“We can,” Romana says, “we need a loom first…you understand the consequences of this…her body cannot be saved but we can save her mind…she’s human though. Only fragments of her can be retrieved. Her body is failing and we have little time as is.”

“Then use _mine_ ,” he snaps irritably.

“You understand what that means don’t you?” Romana asks with a hint of surprise, “your certain you want her to use your family loom?”

“Yes,” he says after a beat, gazing down at Rose’s pale face, “just do it.”

She blacks out again after that.

She wakes to vague memories, the Master is clinging to her hand, fighting against guards, there is shouting and she can feel him in her head, tearing at her memories, stealing them…or something like it. Then he’s carried off and she doesn’t see him again. Romana is a blur above her, but she feels strange, floating…light headed. The world around her is blurring into nothing until she realizes why…

Bad Wolf is gone.

She was free at last, free of the endlessness of it, free of the responsibility…free…free… _free_ …

 

 

                                                         

* * *

 

 

The Master had a debt to pay.

He would see that little bastard dead for what he’s done. The Valeyard who so ruthlessly robbed him of his regenerative energy to heal his little _condition_. He was going to find the Valeyard and ring his scrawny little neck. He can smell him, the burn of regenerative energy somewhere nearby, someone who was newly healed. He finds him easily, that stupid bloke with his stupid face and that horrible hair. The Master isn’t kind about it, not with an old pipe in his hand, especially when he slams it upside the Valeyard’s head and keeps on swinging, all that anger and all that rage just flooding out of him.

“Now, now,” the Valeyard says, a hand against his head where he’s sure there’s blood, “easy now—it’s not like _you_ were using them were you? Wouldn’t this be easier? She doesn’t particularly like it when you change your face I have to warn you--…” he cuts off and ducks when the Master swings again.

“This is your fault,” he snarls, “all of it…you created this whole mess,” the Master snaps, “and I’m _so_ going to enjoy killing you.” That miserable little wretch, who came to Gallifrey and told Romana all about Rose back on Earth, that little traitor who convinced her Rose could save Gallifrey. So, Romana took _him_ as bait, luring her to Gallifrey. Then the Valeyard tried to kill him, stole his regeneration's and healed himself. Now, the Master was going to kill him for good…he hoped.

By the end, the Valeyard’s a bloody mess and he’s limping away from the Master as fast as he can because let’s face it, he was no match. He knows he did something very wrong, and he knows that either he was going to escape or the Master was going to end him permanently.

But he does get away…and that’s the most annoying thing of all.

The Master is so distracted he doesn’t realize what the Valeyard’s doing until it’s too late, the miserable wretch locking himself inside one of the newer Tardis’s, flying away before the Master can stop him. Then he sees something else….and he stares for what seems like forever because he understands now why the Tardis looked the way it did when he and Rose first began repairing it.

Fuck.

So much to his dismay, he wrecks it…tears it to pieces, and sends it back to Earth. Then he turns his gaze up towards the citadel where he knew Rose was, where his family loom was being kept currently. He’d come back one day and find her maybe…if she remembered him. For now, though…

For now, he had a score to settle with the Doctor.

 


End file.
